MIT Develops High-Tech Flash Tats

It's summer. We're gonna safely wager that you've tried some sort of flash tattoo this season…you know, those metallic temporary tattoos. You're showing skin; you're at the beach; you're feeling good. And while they may look pretty sexy, they're definitely not life-changing. But what if they could be? That's basically what a group of scientists at MIT's Media Lab did: The team created metallic temporary tattoos that can kinda turn you part machine. (Remember, I said kinda.) Specifically, there are three different classes of DuoSkin, a metallic temporary tattoo that can be worn for reading, sharing, and exchanging information—all straight from your skin.

Take a look at this video and watch how they work.

Over four minutes of video watching is a lot to ask, so if you need the CliffsNotes version, no problem. There's the option for your tat to serve as an input device, which uses real gold leaf (so chic) to turn your skin into a touch-pad interface that can allow you to control and change a slew of things. Think, for example, of the song playing on your iPhone. It can also work as an output device, changing color and/or intensity to communicate to the world exactly how you're feeling. For example, an output device could be connected to your heartbeat, and the heart tattoo on your arm would get really red when your own heart is beating pretty fast. A good way to think of it is like an applicable mood ring that actually works.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is that these temporary tats can be used as what are called communication devices. By employing NFC (near field communication) smart tags, data on the tat—and thus your skin—is readable to anyone or anything with NFC tags as well. “It very easily could replace an ID badge [that you use to get into your office] or your subway card,” says Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao, a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab who worked on DuoSkin. “Those are the practical examples. A more futuristic one is that you could kind of have Facebook on your arm in that you could reveal details about yourself and read that data off of other people's skin.” A little crazy, a little cool? We're on the fence about sharing our FB profiles, but we'll definitely swap out our ID badges for a bit of gold leaf.

While the tattoos produced in the lab are prototypes and not products coming to stores near you tomorrow, anyone with a printer can make tats like these right now. “That’s the magic,” Kao tells Allure. “You don't need to wait for us to bring it to market. Today, you could go out and buy gold metal leaf from a craft store, which costs around ten bucks. Buy an electronic cutter [necessary to accurately cut the design], which is about $150. The NFC tag—the integrative chip—is around two dollars. This is affordable.” So while it's not technically for sale, the technology is considered open source—which means that anyone in the general public can do what they want with the technology. “A wearable is so intimate to your body,” says Kao. “People need more control over it.”

Advertisement

What's more is that DuoSkin is also personalized in a way that no other wearable tech has been. I mean, how many of us have hunted for the least ugly fitness tracker? Rejoiced when fancier smart-watch bands became available—but still didn’t find one we love-loved? Or, looks aside, just been annoyed that our tech can do one thing but not another? “People have such different senses of style and different needs,” says Kao. “And someone from the U.S., from India, or from Africa—they would have a very different aesthetics and preferences for what functionality they would like on their skin. They can create a device that resonates with what they really need instead of having a one-size-fits-all wearable where they have to conform to the device.”

Much like their flash tattoo predecessors, your theoretically homemade DuoSkin tats would rub off after a couple of days—which is a purposeful design choice. “We want different things every single day, right?” says Kao. “If it's a weekend and I'm going to a club, I would want a different device than today, when I have a really important client meeting.”

We can't help but agree. And although the technology exists, there's no sign we'll be seeing DuoSkin tats on shelves just quite yet—DIYing is still the only option.